Over the last fifteen years, undergraduate U.S. history courses have made great progress in incorporating primary sources and diverse voices into the survey. However, teachers still struggle to find professional writing by working historians in a format useful to undergraduates. Also, in 2014, the College Board redesigned the AP U.S. History curriculum and assessments to require students to demonstrate a critical approach to historical writing by professional historians. These facts have increased demand among teachers for access to high-quality secondary material by professional historians in a single, convenient publication.

Past Forward: Articles from the Journal of American History selects some of the best articles from The Journal of American History to meet the needs of students and teachers of the U.S. history survey. Exploring all of the required "key concepts" and "historical thinking skills" required in the new AP U.S. History curriculum, the book provides pedagogical and historiographical supports for each article. It also contains concise academic biographies of the authors that highlight their path to practicing history and their major publications, which will draw students deeper into historical discourses.